1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for catching a person who is participating in a trust fall exercise in a ropes course and a method of catching the person employing the device. The device is constructed of a sheet of flexible material, such as for example a sheet of canvas or nylon, that is provided with straps of reinforcing material, such as nylon, that extend under the sheet. The sheet is sufficiently long and sufficiently wide to allow a person to be caught thereon when the person falls backward in a trust fall exercise, and the straps extend beyond the sheet forming loops at the edges of the sheet that can be easily grasped by those participants who will be catching the person that is falling and can be secured to the platform from which the person is falling to insures that the person is not injured when they fall.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ropes courses have become popular vehicles for training teamwork for a variety of groups or teams of people. For example, groups from corporations, churches, and social organizations frequently participate in ropes courses to build trust among the team members so that the team will be more cohesive or productive.
One exercise that is often employed in ropes courses is a trust fall exercise. This exercise is conducted by having one member of the team stand with their back to the remaining members of the team, usually on an elevated stand, and then fall backwards, allowing the remaining members of the team to catch the person before the person hits the ground. The members of the team who are assigned the task of catching the person must interlace their arms to form a bed or blanket of human arms into which the person falls. In order for the person who is falling to allow himself to fall backward in this exercise, he must place his trust in his fellow team members that the team members will catch him and not allow him to be injured. If successfully performed, this exercise reinforces the trust between the person who is falling and the members of the team who catch the person.
However, sometimes the exercise is not performed successfully and the person who is falling is injured, sometimes seriously. When the exercise in not performed successfully, one or more of the members of the team who are attempting to catch the person may also be injured. These injuries range from minor scrapes and bruises to more serious injuries including major lacerations, broken bones, concussions, and internal injuries. Even if the injuries resulting from failure of this exercise are not serious, the failed exercise does not accomplish its purpose, i.e. to create trust among the members of the team. Instead, when the exercise fails, the members of the team will be fearful and mistrust each other, possibly blaming each other for the failure. Such mistrust can damage the team's ability to form a cohesive unit and this psychological and emotional damage can be difficult or impossible to reverse.
A team almost never drops a person during a trust fall exercise because they didn't try hard enough to catch the person. In fact, when the exercise fails, members of the team will often injure themselves in an attempt to prevent the person who is falling from being dropped and injured. This can result in injury of both the person who is falling and in injury of one or more of the people who are attempting to catch the person.
One of the reasons why a person might be dropped by the team is that it can be difficult to form a secure bed using only the team member's arms. For example, if one member of the team is not physically strong, they may not be able to grasp the arms of their fellow member's arms tightly enough to withstand the force that the body of the falling person exerts on the arms of the team members who are catching the falling person. When one member forming the bed of human arms falls or their arms give way, the entire bed fails. Stated another way, the bed is only as strong as its weakest link. Even if a stronger member of the team is standing next to the weakest member, the stronger member's strength can not be used to compensate for the failure of the weaker member to maintain the human bed in this exercise.
Another reason why a person might be dropped by the team is that the person may miss the bed. Because the bed is formed by the arms of the team members and is limited in width by the length of the member's arms, the person may fall in such a way that he misses the center of the bed. When this happens, he falls onto one or more of the team members. This exerting excessive force on those team members and when this happens, the members on whom the person falls can be knocked down. When one of the members falls, this causes the bed of human arms to fail and the person is not caught by the bed. When this happens, injury can be inflicted on the person who is falling, those members on whom the person falls, and other members who are also pulled down or fall as a result of the failure of the bed.
Still another reason why a person might be injured when falling is that the bed of human arms that is suppose to catch the person may not be positioned close enough to the platform to catch the person's feet and legs as he falls.
Thus, a new, more reliable way of catching people who are participating in trust fall exercises is needed in order to prevent emotional and physical damage to the participants that can result if the exercise is not successfully performed.
The present invention addresses this need by providing a strong unitary sheet of material onto which the person falls and is caught. The sheet is sufficiently long and wide so that the person who is falling can not miss falling onto the sheet as they fall backward. The present invention is provided with straps that run under the sheet and reinforce the strength of the unitary sheet so that the sheet does not rip or otherwise fail when force is exerted on it. The straps form a plurality of loops on both sides of the sheet and at the top and bottom of the sheet. The loops on both side of the sheet and at the top of the sheet are designed so that they can be easily and secured grasped by the members of the team and the loops at the bottom of the sheet can be secured to the platform from which the person is falling. When the loops are thus grasped and secured, the sheet is pulled taut from side to side by the members who are holding the loops of each side of the sheet, and the sheet is pulled taut from top to bottom by members who are holding the loops at the top of the sheet and by the platform to which the loops at the bottom of the sheet are secured. With the sheet pulled taut from top to bottom, this insures that the feet and legs of the person who is falling will be caught by the device.